


Risk

by ellerkay



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Curtain Fic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, team triad, triad fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 11:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6078012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellerkay/pseuds/ellerkay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kara/James/Winn triad curtain!fic, about their lives after moving in together. Basically this is a fluff fest, with a little bit more like a story in the second part.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Risk

**Author's Note:**

> I am aware that I switch tenses in this story. Mostly it's present tense for the first part (indicating ongoing events) and past tense for the second part (indicating specific events), with one parenthetical slip to past tense in the first part. I was going to change it, but it really seemed to me to work best this way. With that said, I'm open to con crit, so please feel free to tell me kindly if the change feels too jarring.

Kara loves her boys.

“My boys,” she says affectionately, whenever she is the last to arrive home after one of Ms. Grant’s late nights, or her own late nights as Supergirl. Most of the time she finds them sitting at the dining room table, James’ photographs spread out all over, with just enough room left for Winn’s laptop and coffee, which he drinks at all hours (yet still falls asleep faster than Kara most nights). James will stand up to greet her, pulling her into his arms and holding her tight for a long hug. Winn is usually wrapped up in whatever project he’s working on, but when Kara drops a kiss on the top of his head, he’ll look up with a smile and touch the hand she has placed on his shoulder.

Kara loves how domestic James is. He adores cooking, alternating their favorites with wild new recipes he finds online or invents himself. He likes working around the house; fixing things that need fixing, painting and hanging pictures. He and Kara did most of the decorating.

Winn agreed with almost everything they chose, barely looking at it – except in his office, where he will sometimes hide for hours or days when he’s really involved in something. (Or, Kara suspects, when he needs a break. He’s not as social as she or James, and if he goes too long in common spaces, he gets snappish. He always emerges from his office – which she and James refer to as “the cave” – relaxed and refreshed.) Winn doesn’t cook. (Kara knows he subsisted mostly on takeout and frozen food before they all moved in together, and she’s glad he has James’ home cooking now.) But he’s always happy to help with the cleanup, and he does chores and he’s a whiz with electronics. He can even do some wiring, and helped them install sconces when they first moved in, because soft light reminds Kara of Kyrpton. And, he’s in charge of the Netflix queue. Whenever they finish a show, he has a new one selected and ready to go, and he can always find the perfect movie for a quiet Saturday night.

Kara does a little of everything. She doesn’t have James’ flair in the kitchen, but she can follow a recipe, and when she has time, she loves acting as James’ sous chef, chopping vegetables at super speed and boiling water with her eyes. She’s the only one of them who actually likes cleaning – she finds it meditative, and it makes her happy to keep their little house neat and dirt-free. And she always vacuums under the furniture. It’s easy when you can pick up the couch with one hand.

Kara loves her boys, and she is secure in their love for her. She wraps it around her heart like their arms wrap around her body. With it, she feels stronger than she feels when she is carrying a school bus full of children away from danger. She feels safer than she feels when bullets bounce off her chest, safe like when she was a little girl and her mother would tuck her in at night.

Winn and James love each other too, she knows. They are friendly and comfortable with one another. She loves to watch them tease each other, and she feels a little easier knowing that when she is out being Supergirl, they will not be worrying alone.

The three of them sleep together in the king-sized bed they bought. (Kara watched the deliverymen impatiently when it arrived, several of them struggling with the huge mattress, knowing she could have saved them the trouble. James put a hand on her back. “Appearances,” he said into her ear. Winn smirked at her till she stuck her tongue out at him, which made him laugh.) James usually curls up against Kara and stays there till morning. Winn is a restless sleeper. Kara likes when he’s on his back, and she can lay her head on his chest, and she likes it even more when his back is to her and she can put her arm around him. She wonders if the spoons stacked in their utensil drawer feel this cozy.

Any discomfort Winn or James felt about incidental touches at night seemed to have long since dissipated. Sometimes, they even make love all together, and in those moments Kara is dizzy with joy; James’ lips on her neck, Winn warm against her. It’s perfect.

Still, sometimes, she worries.

James had told them early on – about when he was a teenager, and discovered he liked boys as well as girls. How confusing it had been, for awhile. About his first boyfriend, when he was in college. Winn had listened, looking a tad nonplussed, but when James finished, he only nodded thoughtfully.

“I guess you’re just wired that way,” he said. “I’m glad you worked it out eventually, man.”

It should have been fine. But sometimes, Kara notices James looking at Winn more the way he looks at her than the way he looks at, say, Alex or J’onn. And Winn doesn’t look back. It seems to Kara that he very carefully doesn’t look back. And she worries.

***

There came a week or two when Winn seemed to be moody all the time. He was spending more time than usual in the cave, but it didn’t seem to do him any good; he was still short-tempered when he came out. And he was barely looking at James, avoiding him whenever possible.

Kara asked James about it, but he had no more idea of what was going on than she did. She considered confronting Winn, but decided to give him a little more time. He’d always told them before when something was bothering him, sooner or later. She didn’t want to push unless it was really necessary.

A few nights later, things seemed better. Dinner had been more relaxed than it had in awhile. After, Kara was doing the dishes while Winn dried, and James (who had cooked alone and so was exempt from dish duty) kept them company.

“Housewife looks good on you, Winn,” James said with a smile, as he watched Winn put a pan away in a low cupboard.

Kara was shocked when Winn straightened up fast, back rigid, and whirled on James. His face was bright red.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded. James looked shocked, too. It was the sort of innocuous teasing he and Winn exchanged frequently.

“Nothing, man,” he said. “Just joking.”

Winn threw his towel down and stalked out of the room. A few seconds later Kara and James heard the door to the cave slam, and they winced.

“What do you think that was?” James asked.

“I wish I knew,” Kara replied. “Do you think I should go after him?”

James sighed and shook his head. “Give him some time to cool off first. You know he’s sensitive about his temper,” he said, rising and picking up the towel.

“I’ve got it,” Kara said. “You cooked. I’ll be done in two minutes.” She _could_ do their chores at super speed, but she liked doing things the human way, most of the time. It made her feel more at home on this planet. And she got so hungry when she went fast.

“You’re almost done now,” James said.

It was true, so she let him dry the last couple dishes, hoping the activity would make them feel better. It didn’t really help; or at least, it didn’t help her. She was afraid of losing her home. She didn’t want to face that again. Since she’d left Krypton, moving upset her. She had cried for weeks when Alex went to college. She’d learned to accept these changes, and even embrace them (look at how wonderful moving in with James and Winn had been, after all), but it still felt like a terrifying gamble sometimes. And even she couldn’t see a silver lining to Winn moving out…

The wiser, more rational part of Kara reminded her not to assume the worst, and she concentrated on taking deep breaths while she and James settled themselves on the couch. James had his phone out – he was addicted to some trivia game – and Kara got the book she’d been reading. She put her feet in James’ lap, and his big hand on her ankles made her feel better, too.

Winn emerged from the cave about half an hour later. Kara closed her book immediately when he entered the room, and James put his phone down.

Winn sat on an armchair with a sigh. Kara wanted to tell him to join them on the couch, that there was more than enough room, but she stopped herself. He knew that. She should give him space.

Winn cleared his throat. “I’m sorry about before,” he said. “I…that was way out of line.” He looked at James, expression pained. James nodded his acknowledgement.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It happens. You want to talk about it?”

Winn closed his eyes for a second and swallowed. “I’m trying,” he said. “I’ve…you know I try not to keep my emotions bottled up. Because of my dad. I don’t ever want to be like him. But it’s hard, sometimes.”

“We know,” Kara said. “We all struggle with something. You do really well.”

“Mostly,” Winn said. “But lately…lately I’ve been keeping something in.” He paused, staring at the floor. “You both know I’m not…interested in guys. Romantically.”

“Yes,” Kara said, a little puzzled and a lot concerned. Was he not comfortable sleeping with James in the bed now? What if their whole arrangement didn’t work for him anymore?

“I never have been,” Winn continued. “I mean, okay, Chris Hemsworth is really charming as Thor. But that’s been my only mancrush ever, and it’s just a fanboy thing.” He took a deep breath. “My only mancrush until now.”

He looked at James, who leaned forward slowly till his elbows were resting on his knees, his eyes intent on Winn’s.

“James?!” Kara said loudly, and they both looked at her. She covered her mouth with her hand, blushing. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean – but isn’t this good news?”

“Is it?” James asked carefully, looking at Winn. Winn shrugged helplessly, spreading his hands.

“I don’t know! I don’t know what it means. I’m still not attracted to guys. I tried looking at some porn, and – nothing. But with…” Winn trailed off, face turning red.

“You’re attracted to a person,” Kara said. “Not a gender. You don’t have to like all guys, or even any other guys.”

Winn was shaking his head. “What if – what if we do this, or try it, and it messes all of this up? Our lives…” He looked miserable. “That’s why I kept quiet about this. I don’t want to jeopardize what we have here.”

Kara felt a little quiver of fear, but – “Repressing it is making you unhappy,” she said firmly. “And that affects our lives together, anyway. I think it’s worth the risk.”

Winn looked at James. “What about you?” he said. “Would you even want to –”

“I think you know the answer to that,” James said, his deep voice low.

Winn turned even redder (which Kara wouldn’t have thought possible) and slumped back in his chair.

“I’m in way over my head,” he said weakly.

James rose and traversed the space between them in a couple steps, kneeling by Winn’s chair and putting a hand on his arm.

“Hey,” he said gently. “We’ll take this as slow as you want, okay?”

Winn looked at him for a long moment. Finally his face relaxed and he sat up.

“Okay,” he said. “But not… _too_ slow. Right?”

“Not too slow,” James agreed. He leaned in, giving Winn plenty of time to stop him. But Winn was leaning forward, too, and their lips met for a brief moment. Kara felt like her invincible heart was going to burst with happiness and hope.

“Well?” she said, when her boys had finished their first kiss. “Is it worth the risk, Winn?”

Winn was smiling broadly. “It’s worth it,” he said.


End file.
